My mom always tried to teach me how to bake, sew, and cook. Now I'm finally putting all those skills to use and learning some new ones along the way :) This blog is meant to document my adventures in the arts of homemaking.

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Saturday, November 26, 2011

...also known as Denise Batten's Creamy Peanut Butter Fudge. I have been eating this recipe for 3 years but this is the first time I've made it. I've also wanted this recipe for many years and have been told it was a "family secret" one year and then told I'd be given it the next year (but never was). I did come by it honestly - but not from the person who makes it. I was given it by another friend who saw my post on facebook about wanting to make a good PB Fudge that someone had already tested because lets fact it - there are SO many recipes on the Internet...I wanted to spend my money and time on something I knew was delicious...and this.is.it!!!
This fudge is not the "hard" fudge - hence the creamy word in the title.

DB Creamy PB FudgeDB Creamy PB Fudge ~ Printer Friendly Edition
6 Cups Sugar
1 12oz can evaporate milk
4 sticks margarine (Imperial)
2 7 oz. jars marshmallow cream
1 28 oz. jar Skippy Peanut Butter
2 tsp vanilla extract
On medium heat put margarine, sugar, and evaporated milk in a 6 quart pan. Stir occasionally to keep from sticking and allow for even mixing. When mixture comes to a full boil, set a timer for 5 minutes, and continuously stir while the mixture continues to boil. When the timer goes off take the pot off the burner. Add vanilla. Stir in marshmallow creme until incorporated. Add in peanut butter and stir until it is completely mixed. Pour into foil lined pans coated with non-stick cooking spray. Let sit overnight, or put in the refrigerator for a couple of hours. Remove fudge and foil from the pan and cut into squares. For creamy fridge, let it sit on the counter, not in the fridge.

Wondering about the cup in the middle of the collage?? One of Jason's coworkers called it "mood changer fudge". It is creamy, smooth, and amazing...now to get the consistency right!

**This fudge was amazingly delicious but I must have done something a tad wrong. I remember it being pretty creamy when she made it but mine was like melting and slipping through my fingers...which, don't get me wrong, was still amazing!!

Thursday, November 24, 2011

This is the 3rd year of our "new" tradition of making a craft after Thanksgiving dinner...though this year my husband didn't have to help with decorations - becuase he had to go back to work :( For a flash back go here and take a look at the last 2 years of creativity!

This year we stepped it up and we did two projects. I really like doing these projects for the following reasons...

- Spending time with my Mom
- Being creative
- Getting a few gifts out of the way

It is nice to have a few gifts laying around the house. Some of these I already have people in mind for...some I don't. I also want to figure out about how much per gift we spent...because I bet it really wasn't much...more on that in a different post!
This year my Mom gather the ingredients for one project and I the other.

Bath Soaking Salts - Mom's Craft

There are SO many options for bath salts out there. All of the recipies are pretty similar. We decided to go for a bath soak which is a dry bath salt. You can also make bath scrub which is the 'wet' kind...I still might try some of those!!

We made two varieties: tea tree and ginger. For the tea tree we used essential oil and for the ginger we (to my surprise) used actual ginger that we smashed and took the oil out!

For the base mixture we mixed together 4 cups of Ebsom Salt, 1 cup of Sea Salt, 1/4 cup baking soda to make one batch. We then added about 5 drops of tea tree oil to one batch and about 1/2 a stock worth of ginger oil to the other batch. We then packaged them in glass containers my Mom got at the Dollar Store, tied them with some tulle, and added a cute little card that was actually made from cutting out pictures from Christmas cards my parents got last year...yeah for recycling (and free)!

Mom cutting the ginger...

Making labels/tags out of old Christmas Cards!

COST ANALYSIS of 1 gift. Total - less than $5 out of pocket

Glass container - $1 @ Dollar Store

Epsom Salt - $4 - we used 2 3lb bags

Baking Soda & Salt - already on hand

Essential Oil - about $10 per container. We used 5 drops...

Tulle - already on hand

Tags - made out of recycled Christmas cards

Homemade Hot Cocoa Mix - Annie's Craft

I found a recipe that seemed really good - many different ingredients - here. We followed the directions for making the powder but we put our own little spin on another indgredient! As an after thought I realized that I hadn't even tasted this before we made it...I confirmed today it was delicious!!

Ingredients you will need the below ingredients for 1 batch.

2 cups nonfat dry milk powder

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa

1/2 cup mini semisweet chocolate chips

1/2 cup powdered nondairy creamer

1/8 teaspoon salt

The above recipe made about 4 baggies, measured 1 Cup each. We added a hanfull or two of mini peppermint marshmellows...yummy!! We tied wth some rickrak and cute gift tag I made.

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Thanksgiving really snuck up on me this year...and considering this weekend it is my goal to catch up on the last, oh, 4 months of blog posts...this one is going to be right on time!

I didn't do a whole lot of shopping for decor for this season. I was still so sick at the beginning of November {yeah for double ear infections and sinus infections at the SAME time at the age of 28...}. All I really bought was the fake little pumpkins and the mixture that is in the bottom of the candle holder tray...All in all I'm not as happy with my Thanksgiving decorations as I was with my Halloween ones...maybe next year...

Saturday, November 12, 2011

One of my very favorite "family members" Stacy is having her second baby, a little boy named Oren, this coming January. She and I lived 2 houses away from each other growing up. Our families sometimes do Thanksgiving together. She really is like my little sister and I love her...okay, enough mushy stuff...on to cute baby stuff!!!

Since Stacy already has an adorable little girl, Crissy, she really wanted some practical baby stuff...mainly breast pads and diapers. My Mom got her the pads - I covered the diapers. But let's face it, wrapping diapers isn't usually that entertaining so I decided to take it up a notch. I've made a few diaper cakes though this one I made in record time - about 10 minutes {thanks for the help Mom}. It was a lovely celebration with family and friends.

What's a cake without a little decoration {in the form of travel size baby related items :)}

about me...

Hi, I'm ACE. Yep, those are my initials. Thanks to my husband for making that happen! I'm a wife, teacher, friend, and aspiring homemaker who's learning all I can from the people who already seem to know it all :)